Credit Advice

Court judgments on small business credit reports

Have a question?

Do you have a question about consumer credit? You may find an immediate answer by using the search
engine. If you can't find what you're looking for, please fill out the form, being as specific as
possible.

Please note: The Ask Experian team cannot respond to each question individually.
However, if your question is of interest to a wide audience of consumers, the Experian team will
include it in a future column.

Our policies
The information contained in this column if for educational purposes only and is not legal advice.
You should consult your own attorney or seek specific advice from a legal professional regarding
your particular situation.

Please understand that Experian policies change over time. Column responses reflect Experian policy
at the time of writing. While maintained for your information, archived responses may not reflect
current Experian policy.

Court judgments on small business credit reports

Dear Experian,

I am a debt collector and am enforcing a judgment against a corporation. The judgment is listed on their credit report in the public records section. If and when they do pay off the judgment, what is the proper procedure for getting the judgment removed from their credit report? Do I send the corporation the "satisfaction of judgment" document so they can send it to the credit bureaus to remove the record. Or, should I just send the documentation showing they've paid off the judgment directly to the credit bureaus myself?

- CKK

Dear CKK,

I presume that you are referring to the corporation’s business credit report, not the individual credit report of the business owner. Experian also provides business credit reports, and while they are similar, there are some differences in the way information is reported and when it will be deleted.

A judgment on an Experian business credit report will remain for seven years. Once paid, the status of the judgment will be updated to show that it was satisfied. It will not be deleted from the business credit report immediately. Rather, it will remain with the updated status for the remainder of the five year timeframe.

Civil judgments that appear on an individual consumer’s credit report also remain for seven years from the filing date. When an individual judgment is paid the status is updated to show that it is satisfied. Like the business credit report, the judgment will show the new status for the remainder of the time until it is deleted.

In both instances, the status would be updated automatically based on the court records. In this instance, your collection agency may report directly to Experian that the judgment was satisfied, which also would result in the entry being updated on the business credit report.

Experian and the Experian marks used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.